


i read it in a book once...

by yawwwrp



Category: K-pop, Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Slow Burn, changbin is a teacher, minbin rise, minho has a bookshop, please understand i had to write this, they are all very dumb with feelings, who doesn't love a good fake dating sideplot, you know i had to add it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:49:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27879401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yawwwrp/pseuds/yawwwrp
Summary: Minho owns a bookshop in a tiny town. Changbin is a literature teacher who just moved there. You do the math.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Lee Minho | Lee Know/Seo Changbin
Comments: 32
Kudos: 129





	1. part 1

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, this is my first kpop fic so please be gentle. There is next to no Minho/Changbin fic and I am deeply disappointed. So my brain came up with this. Please note that to this day I still have not figured out how to format.
> 
> I apologize in advance.

Minho huffed as he shoved the last few books of a box of dictionaries onto the shelf in front of him. The evening’s sunrays filtered into the small bookshop as the sun began its slow descent. He checked the clock to see it was already close to 7:30pm - time to close up.

Dragging the empty cardboard box behind him, Minho made his way to the cash register. He was just about to pop in his earphones and get ready to leave as the glass door swung open. With the sunset illuminating him from the background, Minho at first thought it was a teenager, until a low voice spoke up.

“I’m not too late, am I?” The guy let out a sigh and Minho could tell he was trying hard not to pant. It seemed like the man in front of him ran to the store in a hurry.

“I was about to close up” Minho muttered and squinted his eyes against the sun to see the guy better. Despite being quite short, he was pretty muscular and wore a black baseball cap, which is why Minho initially thought he was a teenager. Now he could see that the guy was around his age. He was ripped from his thoughts by the guy scratching the back of his neck and laughing.

“I totally get it if you want to kick me out, sorry for coming so late” He grimaced. “I got a little lost on the way here. Just moved here so I don’t know my way around yet.”

Minho waved a hand through the air. “Go on then, what do you need?” 

Honestly, Minho was not in the mood for some dude just coming a minute before closing time and delaying his well deserved free time. He couldn’t wait to get out of the shop and take a cold shower to get rid of the summer heat on his skin.

The guy walked over to the cash register and smiled at Minho. “You’re a lifesaver! Do you by any chance-” He fumbled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and gave it to Minho. “Do you have any of these in stock?”

-

Changbin’s day started off less than great. First the moving company almost broke half his house getting the furniture set up, then he spilled his first cup of coffee made in his new home on his shirt, then he fell asleep on the porch chairs and for good measure, he got lost not only twice but three times on the way to the only bookstore in town. 

He had about four days left before the semester started and he would read as many non-school required books as he could before he would have to start reading assignments and papers instead.

When Felix said he was moving to a completely different state to teach, Changbin didn’t think twice about moving there as well, glad to be out of the city they grew up in. What Felix did not mention however, was that this town was approximately three farms and five grocery stores big - a fact Changbin found out himself, when he got lost earlier. He googled the town before they got there and it looked beautiful. Right by a huge lake, a certain small town charm. What he didn’t realize is that you can get lost, no matter how big the town is.

Which is how he ended up sweaty, tired and a bit disoriented in a grumbly young guy’s bookshop. The guy disappeared further into the bookshop, Changbin’s paper in hand and Changbin let his eyes wander around the place as he caught his breath from running through the streets earlier. The bookshop was homey, the big glass windows letting in the summer sunset and a photo of the guy looking for Changbin’s books surrounded by three tiny cats was hanging behind the cash register. Changbin smiled at the sight and got startled when the guy came back with a small stack of books in hand.

“There you go. The last two I don’t have at the moment, though I can order those for you if you leave me your information.” Mr. Bookshop stuffed the books into a paper bag and pushed some buttons on the cash register.

Changbin pulled out his wallet and fished out his card. “Oh man, thank you. You’re really saving me here.” He handed Minho his card and the cash for the books.

Mr. Bookshop took the card and gave it a quick glance before typing Changbin’s information into the computer. “Professor Seo, hm?” He flicked his eyes up to Changbin and raised an eyebrow. “P.E. or Mathematics?”

Changbin huffed a laugh. “Literature actually. Highschool.” The guy raised both eyebrows now and resumed typing in his information. Afterwards, he held out his hand to give the card back to Changbin.

“Oh no, keep it. I printed these new since I came here. New address and all.” Changbin wanted to kick himself as soon as the words left his mouth. Very smooth. Why would the bookstore dude need his card? The guy stared at him for a second, then pocketed the card and gave him a sly smile.

“A-anyways-” Changbin cleared his throat and grabbed the bag of books. “Thanks again for these! Have a good evening!”

He practically sprinted out of the bookshop and down the street. He slowed down once he reached the local park and realized he had taken the wrong turn again. Changbin heaved a sigh, hopefully for the last time today, and turned around.

-

Minho opened the door to his apartment and didn’t even flinch at the sight of Chan hanging out on his terrace. Closing the door behind him, he kicked off his shoes and made his way over to the door leading from the living room to the rooftop terrace.

“Hey man! I let myself in.” Chan grinned, taking a sip of his beer. “Want a cold one?”

Minho fell onto the chair next to Chan and groaned. “Need a shower first. Why are you here?”

Chan laughed and leaned back into the chair. “Can’t I just stop by to hang out with my friend?”

Minho made a face at him. “C’mon, spit it out.”

Chan just shrugged his shoulders and turned up the volume on the bluetooth speaker sitting on the table. 

A cold shower and a fresh change of clothes later, Minho joined Chan on the terrace again. Chan had gotten a beer for Minho as well and one of Minho’s cats was cuddled up on Chan’s lap. They sat in silence for a while, the cool summer breeze carrying Chan’s music through the air.

“I take it you’re enjoying your last days of freedom?”, Minho finally asks, using the bottle to gesture at Chan’s tan arms. “Been at the lake?”

Chan smiled. “I love summer, man. No work, just takin’ it easy.” He stretched himself lazily and Minho’s cat was jostled from its sleep, jumping off his lap. 

“You got a new coworker starting next Monday.” Minho thought back on Changbin rambling on about his business card.

Chan sat up straighter and shot Minho a quizzical look. “How do you know?”

Minho tore his thoughts away from Changbin and back to Chan. “Literature teacher. Came into the bookstore today.”

Chan hummed and took another sip. There was a long pause before he leaned closer to Minho with a grin. “Is she cute?”

-

The first day went about as expected. Most students were more preoccupied with chatting with each other about which couples got together and broke up over the summer, some actually took down some notes and a handful actually seemed vaguely interested in what Changbin had to say.

His last class ended at 3pm, so he packed up his stuff and made his short walk home. During lunch, Felix and Changbin introduced themselves to the rest of the teachers, among them two guys their own age. Jisung, who Changbin thought might be closely related to a squirrel, was a very talkative Arts teacher and Chan, a tan guy with a strong accent introduced himself as the resident Music teacher to them. Changbin had made a mental note to tease Felix about his sudden blush later and they had spent the break talking about what the teens in this town were like.

“You guys should totally come to Patty’s with us later!” Jisung had about two mouthfuls of food stored in his cheeks as he had invited them, Chan nodding enthusiastically next to him.

“It’s a tradition. On the first day of each year, we go to Patty’s at night.”, Chan had explained.

Felix, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for most of the break looked up from his food. “Oh, so like all teachers go there?”

Jisung chucked and shook his head. As he was still very much working on the food in his mouth, Chan continued for him. “Not really, just us two and one of our friends.” He gestured subtly with his head toward the other teachers in the room. “The others are a bit too old to stay out this long, I think.”

Finally having swallowed his food, Jisung scratched his head for a moment. “Pretty sure Minho raises our average age to about 50 though.”

Chan laughed. “Don’t say that in front of him.”

This is how, at 8pm, Changbin found himself standing in front of Patty’s - a Diner-style burger restaurant who promised a “romantic garden area and the best burger you will ever taste!” on a sign outside. 

Changbin heard Felix before he saw him. This might also have been due to Jisung who was laughing loudly at something Felix had said. They seemed to have run into each other on the way to the restaurant and joined Changbin.

They chatted a bit about how their day at school went, before Chan arrived with his friend in tow.

Jisung noted them first and greeted them with a loud voice. “Finally! We’ve been waiting on you two for  _ hours _ !”

Changbin turned to face Chan and the guy from the bookshop coming his way. Chan gave them a small wave. “Yeah right, this is the first time you’ve ever been here before me, Jisung.” He gestured towards the bookshop guy. “Guys, this is Minho. He’s our friend, owns the bookshop two streets over.

Minho flashed a quick smile at Felix before looking at Changbin with an intense gaze. “We meet again, Professor Seo.”

-

Minho was basically assaulted as soon as he closed up the bookshop. It was  _ that  _ day of the year again.

Every year, on the first Monday of the new school year, he would close the shop at 6pm and meet up with Jisung and Chan at Patty’s to listen to them complain about “The Youths” for two hours. The rest of the week and part of the next one would be filled with him sorting out and ordering books for whatever the local high schoolers needed for the year, which usually left him so tired at the end of the day, that he could not find it in himself to socialize with anyone. In a way, Minho was glad Patty’s Day existed in their lives.

Chan had jumped him in the street to inform him about the evening’s proceedings. “We’re bringing two newbies from the school today so-” He trailed off and gave Minho a pointed look. “Be on your best behavior.”

Minho huffed and rolled his eyes as they started walking home. “I always am.”

They parted ways a block later with Chan reminding Minho by way of saying goodbye to be there or be square.

Now, as they came to a stop in front of Jisung and two other guys, Minho saw a familiar face. He almost laughed out loud at the surprised face Changbin made and stored the mental image away for later as they entered the restaurant.

Normally, Minho was Jisung and Chan’s shoulder to cry on during their Patty’s visit. They would eat, they would drink, they would complain, and at the end Minho had to heave the two to their respective homes if he didn’t want them to pass out in the restaurant or on the street corner. This time though, there was a constant stream of chatter - mostly questions directed at the two newcomers. 

As their burgers arrived, Jisung and Chan took a break from their interrogation to shovel fries and burgers into their mouths, while Changbin stared at his burger with big eyes. Minho could have sworn he saw some drool coming out of his mouth. Felix took a tentative first bite and elbowed Changbins arm before letting out a drawn out hum.

“Thish ish delishioush!”, he mumbled through a full mouth, with Jisung nodding in agreement.

Changbin let out a laugh and dug in, looking up at Minho sitting in front of him. He smiled around the burger and showed him a thumbs up. After having swallowed his first bite he sighed. “The best burger you will ever taste indeed.”

As the evening turned into night, they ordered some drinks and let the conversation flow. Through it, Minho learned that Felix and Changbin grew up together and became friends through stomping on each other’s sandcastles in the sandpit at the local park. They had been friends since then and decided to get into teaching.

Minho’s ears perked up as the topic drifted towards Changbin.

“Changbin actually wanted to become a writer.” Felix said and poked Changbin in the ribs. “But he’s lazy, so now he wants to make students appreciate the written word.”

Changbin rolled his eyes at Felix but grinned. “It’s not because I’m lazy.”

“Then why?” All eyes turned towards Minho, who had been quiet for some time, content listening to the conversation around him. He cleared his throat before continuing, “I mean, why didn’t you become a writer then?”

Changbin ducked his head and shrugged before smiling, raising his eyebrows at Minho. “I wouldn’t wanna leave all other authors jobless.”

Changbin’s laughter was drowned out by the loud boos of Jisung, Felix and Chan and the moved on to the next topic with Chan ordering another round of beers. Minho was glad Changbin didn’t notice he had been staring, when he tore his eyes away from him to look back to the others.

-

“Why do you two always do this?” Minho heaved an exasperated sigh and facepalmed with the hand he wasn’t using to drag Jisung out of the restaurant.

Felix and Chan were walking, slightly in waves, in front of them talking about some tv show while Changbin held the door open for Minho and Jisung.

Jisung poked his finger into Minho’s cheek. “You’re a good one, Minho. No matter what anyone says about you.”

Changbin chuckled. “What do they say about you, Minho?”

Minho raised an eyebrow and swatted Jisung’s hand away while he slung one of Jisung’s arms over his shoulder and grabbed him around the waist. “I would love to know that too. Pretty sure the only one saying something about me is you, Jisung.”

Jisung mumbled something and slumped a bit forward. Changbin took that as a queue to help Minho and took Jisung’s other side. They joined Felix and Chan and arrived at the biggest junction on their way.

“I’m gonna walk Felix home, can you handle Jisung alone, Minho?”

Minho was about to protest Chan’s question when Changbin spoke up. “It’s alright, we’ll bring him home safe and sound.”

Felix and Chan said their goodbyes as Minho stared at Changbin. “You sure? I don’t want to keep you up for too long.”

Changbin shook his head and motioned to start walking again. The walk to Jisung’s place was mostly silence between the two of them, with Jisung alternating between providing background music for their nightly stroll and telling them interesting facts he learned from some nature documentary he was obsessed with.

Minho shoved Jisung through his front door just as he was about to start a ballad version of the Backstreet Boys and gave him back his keys. “Don’t burn the house down, text me before you go to sleep.”

Jisung pulled both Minho and Changbin into a hug and sighed. “My friends. Adios.” With this, he let them go and closed the door in front of them.

Changbin laughed as they walked down Jisung’s driveway before an awkward silence set in. 

“So uh,” Changbin started, not really sure what to talk about. “That was a nice evening.”

Minho snorted. “Is this the end of the date conversation?”

Changbin’s steps faltered a bit as they walked down the streets, illuminated by the streetlights. He knew for a fact that his ears were bright red and was hoping the lights were too dim for Minho to notice.

“You wish.” He countered with a raised eyebrow as he found his voice again. “Anway, I have to turn down this street. I think.”

Minho stopped a step ahead of him and turned back to look at Changbin. “You sure you can find your way home?”

Changbin pouted. “Sure do. Let me know when I can pick up my books!”

Before Minho could say another word, Changbin turned away and picked up his pace. After about two blocks, he realized he had, once again, gotten lost and let out a frustrated groan into the empty night air.

-

Minho did definitely not think about Professor Changbin, or his red ears, or his smile, or the raised eyebrow, or the pout. Not a chance. So when the books Changbin ordered arrived the next morning, he definitely also did not immediately grab his phone to text Changbin that he could pick them up. And what he one hundred percent absolutely did not do, was type out five different versions of the same text and overthinking the addition of an emoji at the end.

Luckily the bookshop was still empty at 10am so nobody heard his annoyed sigh. He busied himself putting away books and sticking on price labels for another hour before checking his phone again. No reply. Well, Changbin probably had classes so that was to be expected. No big deal.

At around noon, a group of high school girls came in to look for textbooks and Minho let them wander through the shop as he sorted through some bills.

“I know, right? He’s hot.” A high pitched chorus of laughter drifted from the back of the shop to Minho at the cash register. Minho rolled his eyes, momentarily distracted from punching numbers into a calculator.

“But isn’t he, like, old?”, another girl asked. 

The first one replied. “I don’t think so, he’s like what, 30? Still hot.”

Another round of laughter. “Maybe I should take literature too.”

Minho’s head shot up. The highschool wasn’t very big so he knew for a fact they only had one literature teacher. 

“I mean, you should see the arms on the guy, like, yummm.” 

Minho rounded the corner to the textbook section just as the girls started laughing again. “Can I help you, ladies?”

The girls stopped laughing and gave him an annoyed look. “Do you have the one with the rich guy?”

The blonde girl in front of him blew a bubble of gum and let it pop before speaking again. “You know who throws the parties. Leonardo DiCaprio.”

Minho couldn’t help the disapproving look creep across his face. “Do you mean The Great Gatsby?”

Another girl spoke up. “Yeah, that one. Do you have that one? We couldn’t find it.”

Minho kindly - or as patiently as he could - explained to them that Gatsby was not a textbook and dragged out four copies of the book from the shelf across from them before gesturing them towards the cash register.

Once the girls had left the shop, Minho settled back down with his bills and glanced over at his phone. No new messages. He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He had to get stuff done and once again, he was definitely not trying to remember what Changbin’s arms looked like.

-

Felix pulled Changbin aside in the teachers lounge at around 11am, when they both had a free hour. “Come with me. I brought muffins.”

They sat down at the small corner table away from everyone else and Felix shoved about two handfuls of tiny muffins towards Changbin before he began to speak.

“I have an issue.”

Changbin held up a hand, tasted one of the chocolate chip muffins and hummed in content. “First of all, great muffins. Your best work so far. Keep ‘em coming.” He ate another one before he continued. “Secondly, what’s with all this ominous business?  _ Come with me? I have an issue?  _ Spill it.”

Felix sighed and stared sadly down at the muffins. Changbin held one out to him as encouragement. “Fine but you have to keep it a secret. Changlix swear.”

Changbin rolled his eyes and Felix finally took the muffin from his hand. They had made up this stupid version of a pinky swear when they were eight and Felix was the only one of them to ever bring it up on occasion. Changbin shook Felix’ hand and headbutted him on the forehead.

“Why do we still do this stupid shit?”, he groaned as he held his head. Three of the other teachers shot them a confused look before sitting down with their lunch boxes two tables over. “Anyway, continue. What’s your issue?”

Felix sighed once more. “Remember yesterday? When Chan walked me home?”

Changbin nodded, devouring the last two of the tiny muffins. 

“You know, it was nice and we talked and I laughed and… I have a crush.” A faint blush appeared on Felix’ freckled cheeks and he shut his eyes tightly. “What am I gonna do, Bin?” He let his head fall onto the table and Changbin looked over to the other teachers staring at them again to give them an apologetic look.

He patted Felix’ head before answering. “C’mon man, pull yourself together. That’s not that bad, right? Chan seems like a nice guy.”

Felix lifted his head to look at Changbin. “But you know how it is, dating in the workplace. You shouldn’t do it right? What if I get rejected and then I have to see him everyday. Imagine how embarrassing that is.” He buried his face in his hands.

Of course, Changbin was not overly surprised by Felix’ revelation. Ever since he had known Felix, the guy had about 20 crushes a week, from lifeguards to some person he gave directions to a particularly good omelette. Felix was in love with love. And on one hand he understood that dating someone who works with you might not be the best idea, but Chan had seemed like a good guy, friendly and responsible.

The bell ringing in the hallway called them away for the next class and Changbin left a torn looking Felix with an apology to rush to the other end of the building.

The afternoon classes were pretty brutal, if you ask Changbin. He tried to limit himself to only two cups of coffee for the rest of the day and informed increasingly uninterested students about the overview of the reading plan and assignments they had to do for the year. He took it on himself to switch out some of the books on the previous teacher’s list for some newer and more interesting ones and let his thoughts drift back to Minho’s bookstore while the students took down notes. He would have to stop by to get some of the books on the list for himself. 

It wasn’t until after his last class ended that Changbin finally got to check his phone. Most of the day he had spent coming up with assignments and class material if he wasn’t in a class. He had about five missed calls from Felix from before they had their talk and an unanswered text message. He opened the latter, still sitting at the teacher’s desk in the empty classroom.

_ Hi. Your books are here. We don’t offer delivery. Minho _

Changbin frowned. Minho hadn’t seemed like the most enthusiastic person on earth but the message seemed… neutral at best. To Changbin, Minho was a bit of a mystery. He hadn’t spoken much last night, but was friendly and funny when he did. He had a habit of tripping people up on their words and teasing them, especially Jisung and was, for lack of a better word, handsome. Changbin was intimidated by him, to be honest. And yet, he packed his stuff and left the school behind him on his way to the bookshop.

-

It was a little after 6pm when Minho heard the door open, his head currently stuck in a shelf, trying to fish a book out from the back.

“Hello?”

The voice made Minho bang his head on the shelf as he lifted it up on reflex. He left the shelf holding his head and walked to the cash register, Changbin standing there looking through the new arrivals in the shop window, shirt sleeves rolled up, glasses on his nose, messenger bag slung across his chest. 

“Your books.” Minho wanted to kick himself for this amazing greeting. Changbin whipped around to look at him and gave him a smile.

“There you are! I came earlier today!” Changbin joined him at the register and fumbled for his wallet.

Minho’s eyes instantly went up Changbin’s hands, forearms, biceps, shoulders. Something in his brain must have stopped working after banging his head and he inwardly cursed the teenage girls from earlier. He stuck out the paper bag of books towards Changbin.

Changbin smiled again, though it faltered as he looked at Minho. “Thanks! Uhm- actually, I have a few more… I don’t know if you have them here or-” He stopped mid sentence and handed Minho another crumpled piece of paper.

Minho looked over it and disappeared back to the shelves without a word. He was glad to be alone for a moment to gather himself and shook his head to dislodge any thoughts of Changbin. After gathering the books on Changbin’s note, he walked back to find Changbin staring intently at the picture hung on the wall behind the register. Minho had hung it there when he first opened the shop, a gift from Jisung and Chan to wish him good luck with the store.

“No need to order them this time.”, he murmured, putting them in a paper bag as well and handing Changbin the card reader to pay.

“That’s a cu- a nice picture.”, Changbin said, eyes on the card reader, typing in his code. When he looked up, Minho realized he had been staring at him without a word again.

“Uhm… thanks. It was a gift.”, he answered bluntly and put the bill in Changbin’s bag. If someone could just explain to him why he was suddenly unable to speak like a normal human being, Minho would be forever grateful.

“Are they your cats?” Changbin pointed at the picture. “They’re cute.”

Minho nodded. “Yeah. They’re strays.” There was a pause and Minho felt like he should probably keep the conversation going. “Do you have cats?”

Changbin shook his head and grabbed the second bag of books. “Sadly no. But hey, call me if you ever need a catsitter!”

He smiled brightly at Minho and left the shop with a short goodbye and Minho with a weird feeling.

-

Changbin was confused, to put it mildly. Did he do something wrong? Did he say anything offensive to Minho? As soon as Changbin took off his shoes and fell down onto his couch, his thoughts went into overdrive. To Changbin, it had seemed like they had gotten on pretty well last night, nothing weird happened. So why was Minho being so cold towards him?

Any further overthinking was immediately cut short by his doorbell ringing. He groaned and was fully prepared to get angry at Felix for making him get up when he had given him his spare key just a few days ago but was left without words when he opened the door to find Chan and Jisung standing in front of him.

“Changbin! Hey, my guy!” Jisung waved at him and handed him a box of chocolates. “We stopped by to say thanks for dragging me home yesterday.”

Changbin let them inside the house before he questioned, “No worries. But why are you here then, Chan?”

Chan cleared his throat awkwardly and sat down on Changbin’s sofa. “No reason. Just here for moral support.”

Jisung snorted as he sat down next to him and waited before Changbin was sitting before he elaborated. “Chan needs your help.”

Changbin barely had time for his brain to register Jisung’s words before Chan had pulled Jisung in a headlock. They struggled for a moment before Chan let Jisung go and sighed.

“It’s about Felix.”

Changbin’s eyes widened. This was about to get interesting.

-

A shower, three filled food bowls for his cats and about 20 google searches on “speech disorders after hitting head” later, Minho was still none the wiser. He had put on some Netflix show in the background and was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he had missed the plot of a whole episode and half of another.

His thoughts mainly being about Changbin standing in his bookshop, his arms, his glasses, the smile.

This was ridiculous. Minho wasn’t some lovesick sixteen year old and Changbin was his friends’ friend. Which was a big no-no as far as he was concerned. Any feelings would just end in either rejection and awkwardness, or a short lived relationship that ends in Changbin being fed up with Minho and even more awkwardness.

He tried to rationalize it this way and turned his attention back to the tv, where some alien was currently being violently flung against a huge rock. He sighed and turned it off, burying his face in the pillow.

-

Once Jisung and Chan left Changbin’s house, he cleaned up the now empty chocolate box and settled down on the sofa again, this time alone. 

Chan had spent most of the time describing and simultaneously denying varying feelings and conversations he had in regards to Felix. Apparently they were the only ones of the four of them who had their lunch break at the same time today and they had - from what it sounded like to Changbin - a nice time talking to each other.

Jisung was mostly eating the gifted chocolate by himself and interjected every now and then, saying that he was supportive and that he should definitely ask Felix out since that would mean more desserts for all of them. That had earned him another headlock and Jisung saying that Felix was pretty had earned him an elbow to the ribs right after.

Since Changbin promised Felix not to let anything about his feelings slip, he just kept quiet and listened for the most part. Now that he knew Chan had similar feelings for his friend, there was nothing standing in the way of them getting together, so he sent a quick text to Felix.

_ Operation Chan is a Go. Be brave, young soldier. Bring him baked goods. _

He dropped his phone to the side after. Before Jisung and Chan left, he had asked them, as subtly as he could, what was up with Minho, if he had had a bad or something.

Jisung and Chan exchanged a questioning look at that and explained that Minho could sometimes come off as a bit cold but was otherwise a good guy. Fortunately for Changbin, they refrained from asking any follow up questions and were gone not long after.

Sitting in the silence of his living room now, Changbin thought back to earlier that day. Minho hadn’t talked much but Changbin noticed the 20% discount Minho had given him when he had unpacked the books. And then there was the look. 

The first time Minho was staring at him, last night at Patty’s, he had written it off as Minho being lost in his thoughts or maybe a bit tipsy. Today though, Minho was clearly looking him up and down in the store. He just couldn’t read his face - was he interested or disgusted?

Changbin knew he wasn’t the tallest person on earth - or even the tallest person in the room - but he had been working out a lot lately. He wasn’t really the type of person to nitpick things he didn’t like on himself, though he could probably put in a bit more of an effort.

Why was he even thinking about this? Minho was clearly not interested in him, evidenced by his short sentences and lack of proactive conversation. Changbin let out a frustrated sigh and lifted himself off the couch to get ready for bed, Minho firmly on his mind, no matter what else he tried to shift his focus to.

-

Minho was pretty busy for the following days, getting orders for various obscure books that a certain literature professor wanted students to read as well as setting up a reading by a local author for the following Saturday. He did his best to focus on his tasks at hand without thinking too much about Changbin, his hands still itching to send him a text. But what would he even say?

Unfortunately for him, the addition of two new young teachers at the high school had the local students all riled up. Daily, there would be swarms of girls coming in giggling about Jisung, Felix, Chan or Changbin - he was used to it about Jisung and Chan, as they had a fanclub-like following in the school for being laid back teachers closer to the students age than to the other teachers. Felix was mostly admired for his voice and cute face, as Minho overheard, with many students apparently at first mistaking him for a fellow teenager.

Changbin on the other hand, was more complex from what he could tell. He overheard some girls talking about how good looking he was but that he was very intent on getting them to actually read the books and not just watch the movies made from them. It was endearing to Minho, who kind of wished he had had a literature teacher who was actually passionate about it when he was in school.

As the afternoon went on, the shop became quiet and Minho found some time to send out the newsletter for the reading to the mailing list. He thought about it for a moment before he grabbed his phone.

_ Hi, it’s Minho! We have a reading on Saturday at the bookshop, do you want to come? _

He frowned and erased the message.

_ There’s a reading at the bookshop on Saturday. The book would be good for your class maybe. _

He sighed and deleted it.

_ Hi. I’m hosting a reading at the bookshop, it’s on Saturday. Would you like to stop by? _

He closed his eyes and hit send before he could backpedal again. As soon as it showed the message was sent, he dropped his phone on the desk and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

His phone vibrated immediately and Minho grabbed it so fast, he almost dropped it on the floor.

_ What time? :) _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you for the comments guys - y'all make me soft !!!!
> 
> Here's part 2....... I wrote this at 2am and honestly have no excuses so enjoy I guess.

“Do you want to go see a movie on Saturday?” Felix had brought some brownies they had made in cooking class, that Jisung and Chan were eagerly fighting over as soon as he had set them down on the table.

Changbin shook his head. “Can’t. I have a-” He trailed off. “Thing.”

Felix looked at him, question marks practically forming in the air around him. “A thing. What thing?”

Changbin shrugged. “I’m going to the book reading at Minho’s.”

Felix raised his eyebrows. “Alright, fine. What about you guys?”

Chan quickly swallowed his bite of the brownie and almost choked. “Sure! I’d love to go! And Jisung is in too, right?” He nudged Jisung with his foot.

Jisung had stuffed the better part of two whole brownies into his cheeks and his answer came out more like a mumble. “Yeah of cou-”

Changbin felt a bit bad for stepping on Jisung’s foot, but it had to be done.

Jisung’s pained yell gained the attention of the other teachers in the room. He swallowed his hamstered brownies and turned to them “Sorry! I, uh, had a cramp in my leg!”

He shot Changbin an angry look. Changbin pulled a face and answered for Jisung. “Jisung can’t go. He’s going to the book reading with me.” He widened his eyes at him as if to say that he should play along.

“Jisung? To a book reading? Since when do you go to book readings?” Chan seemed to not buy Changbin’s excuse even a little bit. “You haven’t been to Minho’s store since he opened it.”

Jisung thankfully seemed to get Changbin’s attention and came up with his own white lie. “Thank you, Changbin, but you didn’t have to lie for me. I’m busy feeding Minho’s cats while he’s at the shop.”

“I guess it’s just you and me then, Lix.”

Chan and Jisung continued to argue over whether or not Jisung had actually ever bought a book in his life that wasn’t a comic while Felix raised an eyebrow at Changbin.

Changbin just smiled and gave him a wink before he mouthed, “Thank me later.”

-

Minho took some extra time on Saturday to get ready, for no reason at all. It’s not like today would be anything special. Completely ordinary.

When he restyled his hair for the tenth time, he decided that enough was enough and that was probably the best he was gonna get out of it before heading down to the store. He didn’t normally open the store on the weekend, except for book clubs or book readings, but wanted to get there early today to do some inventory before the reading started at six and of course, he completely forgot to get some food for lunch so by 3pm he had finished a box of crackers he had stashed under the front desk and was on his third coffee of the day. 

He finished setting up everything for the book reading by five and spent the rest of the time sitting at the register reading book reviews for newly published novels.

Half an hour later, Changbin walked through the front door, with a friendly “Hi!” and a wave directed at Minho. Minho looked at the clock and saw that there was still half an hour to go before the reading started before he looked back at Changbin.

“Hi. You’re early.”

Changbin scratched the back of his neck and chuckled. Minho felt like it was probably a nervous tick and found it cute, before he pushed the thought out of his head again. 

“Yeah, I didn’t wanna get lost again.” Changbin smiled and sat down on one of the chairs Minho had set up earlier. Minho was pretty sure that that was definitely a lie, since Changbin seemed to get there without any trouble yesterday but didn’t comment on it. “Did you have a busy day?”

Minho moved from the register to sit on one of the chairs near Changbin, who turned around in his seat a bit to look at him directly. Looking closer at him, Minho noticed that Changbin was not only wearing a nice dress shirt but also a tie. In general, Changbin seemed to be dressed more for an event than a book reading in a tiny bookshop. 

“My eyes are up here, you know.” Changbin’s voice made Minho’s gaze snap up to meet his eyes. Changbin let out a small laugh.

“Why are you so dressed up? It’s just a book reading.” Minho was grateful in the moment that he wasn’t a person that blushes easily.

Changbin crossed his arms in front of his chest and Minho willed his eyes to look anywhere but Changbin’s face. 

“So what, can’t I be the best dressed person here?”

-

Changbin was surprised at how many people actually came to the book reading. Only a few minutes after he had sat down with Minho, a group of middle aged ladies came in chatting excitedly about the author and as more people started filing in, Minho took his seat at the cash register to watch from the front of the store and give everyone a place to sit.

As the author introduced his latest work, Changbin found it hard to concentrate. Not because it was boring but he just couldn’t get his mind to focus. He had the urge to turn around and check if Minho was still looking at him, but resisted. He eventually gave up trying to listen to whatever the author was saying and let his mind wander. There was something about the stares Minho kept giving him that he just couldn’t get off his mind.

Before he knew it, people around him clapped and the author ended the reading. A group of people got their books signed and Changbin tried to look over to Minho who was hidden by a line of customers trying to buy the novel the author had read from. He busied himself looking through the shelves until everyone had left and it was just him and Minho in the shop.

“You’re still here?” Changbin jumped at the voice behind him. He had been distracted, flipping through a book and didn’t realize that Minho walked up behind him. As he turned around, he suddenly realized how close Minho was standing. Minho glanced down at the book in Changbin’s hands and his voice dropped down to almost a whisper, “Oh, you were reading. Sorry.” 

Changbin shook his head and looked down to the book then back up to Minho who was staring at him again. “N-no, it’s fine.”

A smile made its way across Minho’s face and somehow the little bit of space between them felt like it was filled with electricity.

“Do you want me to help? Clean up, I mean?”, Changbin choked out.

Minho huffed out a laugh as he took a step back. “Sure, if you want to.”

Changbin was thankful to give his hands something to do as he put the book back on the shelf and started stacking chairs with Minho. He heard a deep rumble and wasn’t sure at first if it was his own stomach or Minho’s until he looked over to Minho holding his stomach.

Minho flashed him an apologetic look. “Sorry, forgot to bring food today.”

Changbin huffed and stacked the last chair. “Alright, c’mon. Let’s close up and get you something to eat.”

-

Minho was a bit taken aback by Changbin’s offer to get food. He had plenty of food at home and he had kept Changbin here long enough, asking him to clean up with him. Momentarily, Changbin’s flushed face from before crossed his mind and Minho felt his heart race at the thought.

“Are you sure? It’s pretty late…”

Changbin smiled. “And I’m old enough to not have a curfew. So what do you say, pizza?”

They made their way down main street to Leonardo’s which, according to Minho, had the best pizza ever and got a table out on the terrace. There was an awkward moment when the waiter lit the candle at their table with a suggestive wink at them and then they were left staring at the menu in silence.

“How did you like the reading?”, Minho asked, setting the menu down at the table and looking over at Changbin.

Changbin glanced up at him from the menu and seemed to think for a moment. “It was… good. Yeah, good reading.”

Minho huffed a laugh. “Bullshit. That book was awful and the guy was drunk off his face.”

Changbin looked alarmed and put down the menu. “I mean, when you say it like that…”

The waiter came back to took their orders and served them some wine that Changbin had ordered. 

“I’m not much of a wine guy so I have no idea if this is good. Cheers anyway.” He held up his glass to clink with Minho’s and took a sip. Changbin seemed to not be able to decide whether he liked it or not, taking another sip before shrugging his shoulders. “Not as bad as I thought it would be.”

“Why did you order wine if you don’t like it?” Minho’s eyes drifted briefly down to Changbin’s arms resting on the table before finding their way back up to Changbin’s face. He couldn’t read his expression, but Changbin seemed unusually serious.

Changbin licked his lips and Minho was distracted by that for a moment so he missed the first part of Changbin’s sentence until his brain caught up to him that Changbin was speaking.

“-to end the evening on a nice note.”, Changbin finished and smiled. Minho nodded quickly to cover up for his lack of paying attention and didn’t miss the way Changbin’s face slowly moved back into a serious expression.

Luckily the pizza arrived right after and Minho wanted to personally thank the staff for their extremely swift service while trying to figure out what the hell Changbin had said before that made his reaction less than satisfactory to the other.

They ate their pizzas mostly in silence, with Changbin commenting on the taste every now and then. 

After a while, Minho decided to pick up the conversation from that day at Patty’s. “So why exactly did you become a teacher and not a writer?”

Changbin finished his last slice of pizza before answering. “Honestly? I used to have a literature teacher that was just-”, he gestured vaguely with his hands, “-weird, but like, extremely passionate about books. And I had read about maybe three books in my life up until that point. But somehow he made me want to read more and so I did and then I became the weird kid that’s constantly reading and so I ended up wanting to write.”

Minho nodded to signal he was still listening, while the waiter collected their plates and refilled their glasses. 

“And so one day, I gave him something I wrote and asked him to give me some feedback.” Changbin stopped and had a sad look in his eyes.

“Did he die before he read it?”

Changbin laughed at the remark and continued his story. “No no, nothing that tragic. He gave it back to me and said,  _ Seo Changbin, your writing is complete shit. Rewrite the whole thing and bring it to me by Monday _ .” Minho let out a laugh at Changbin imitating an old guy’s voice. “And then he died.”

Minho’s laughter stopped abruptly and he looked at Changbin with wide eyes. Changbin broke out in laughter and pointed at Minho’s face.

“I wish you could see your face right now.” He wiped some imaginary tears. “No, I’m just kidding. That guy will probably outlive us all. I never gave him a rewritten piece because I was afraid it would still be bad, so I stopped writing and became a teacher instead.”

Minho kicked him lightly under the table. “You had me there for a second.”

They continued talking about their shared interest in books and Minho passed on some words of wisdom about Jisung and Chan to Changbin for a while before they decided to pay the bill and get on their way.

Minho checked his watch to see that it was almost midnight and stopped. Changbin looked at him. “What?” He checked his watch as well and grinned. “Are you Cinderella? Is your pumpkin ride on its way?”

Minho raised an eyebrow at Changbin. “Do you wanna come back to my place?”

Changbin switched from laughing to a shocked expression so quickly he almost choked. “What?”

“I mean to hang out. I’m not really tired yet.”

Once Minho knew him for longer, he would definitely make fun of how easily Changbin blushes. For now, he just watched him turn red and started walking again. Changbin was still stopped in the street, watching Minho walk away from him. Minho called to him without looking back, “Come on then. Or do you have a curfew?”

-

Changbin let out a whistle at Minho’s apartment and was immediately greeted by three cats weaving around his legs. He bent down to pet them and take off his shoes before he joined Minho in the kitchen.

“How is your place so clean? I mean, right now mine is too, but that’s because I just moved in.” He leaned against the counter next to Minho, who was currently opening another bottle of wine.

“I know you’re not a wine drinker, but you’ll like this one.” Minho ignored his comment and filled two glasses before carrying them to the living room, Changbin following suit.

They settled down on Minho’s sofa and Changbin took a sip of wine, unsure how to fill the silence. Now that they were alone in Minho’s apartment, the air around them seemed different. He was hyper aware of Minho’s every move and the cat’s little paws skittering across the floor through the apartment.

“Do you want to watch something?” Changbin was grateful for the suggestion and nodded, settling deeper into the couch next to Minho. He was careful to keep some space between them, though Minho scooted forward to get the remote and put their glasses down on the coffee table, his thighs grazing Changbin’s.

They settled on some action movie neither of them had seen and watched mostly in silence. One of Minho’s cats jumped up on the couch next to Changbin and stretched out, making Changbin scoot closer to Minho. After a while, Changbin glanced over to find Minho looking at him.

Minho quickly averted his gaze back to the tv and didn’t say a word. Changbin wanted to speak up, say something, but he wasn’t sure what to say and just turned his attention back to the tv.

-

About an hour into the movie, Minho felt Changbin’s body leaning against his. A jolt ran through him as he looked over to find Changbin with his head resting on Minho’s shoulder, upper body awkwardly bent to the side. He gave Changbin a soft nudge and the other opened his eyes and straightened up again.

“Sorry, didn’t realize I dozed off.” Changbin’s voice sounded a bit sleepy and Minho paused the movie, ignoring the way his heart was racing. Minho’s cat jumped off the couch as the tv sound stopped and disappeared into the kitchen.

“Do you want to go home?”, Minho asked softly. For some reason he was afraid to speak louder. There was a feeling in the air that made him be quiet and stay in this bubble with a sleepy Changbin next to him for a little bit longer.

Changbin shook his head and stretched out his legs to the now cat-less spot on the couch, resting his head on Minho’s thigh. “Nope, continue the movie, I will watch lying down.”

Minho’s brain wanted to say that this was definitely not ideal as he will fall asleep again, but his mouth refused to let a sound come out. Silently, Minho hit play on the movie and forced himself to look at the screen and not at Changbin. His willpower lasted for about five minutes before his eyes dragged themselves over to look at Changbin’s face. His eyes were half closed, looking at the tv, a slight smile curling up the corner of his lips.

He was just about to reach out his hand and pat Changbin’s hair before his better judgement decided against it. This was just the two of them, hanging out, becoming friends, watching a movie. Nothing more.

Changbin let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes, Minho nudging him again. “Thought you wanted to watch?”

“Just resting my eyes.”

-

Changbin woke up to the couch below him moving and he looked around disoriented in the dark for a moment before he remembered where he was. Apparently at some point, Minho had fallen asleep too, still in a sitting position, one hand in Changbin’s hair and his body hunched forward. 

Sleep drunk and confident in the dark, Changbin softly pushed Minho down onto the couch and lied down next to him, thankful that Minho had such a broad couch in his apartment. An alarm bell rang somewhere in his head when Minho turned on his side and shifted Changbin on his side as well, throwing an arm around him from behind, his face buried in the crook of his neck.

Tomorrow he would overthink this he knew it, but for now, Changbin would just sleep.

-

Minho woke up to Soonie licking his hand. He opened his eyes to see Soonie’s small head pop up behind a black mop of hair. For a moment, Minho thought he was still dreaming until Changbin rubbed his cheek against Minho’s arm under his head softly in his sleep. The sudden realization ran through Minho like an electric shock. Changbin. Changbin who was sleeping in front of Minho right now. On his couch. In Minho’s arms.

Soonie jumped off the couch after realizing that Minho wouldn’t get up and disappeared from Minho’s field of vision. He took a moment to let out a small breath, feeling Changbin’s warm body pressed up against him. Changbin had his arms crossed in front of his chest, which didn’t really seem comfortable to Minho. Minho gently lifted his hand off Changbin’s waist, which prompted the other to turn around and bury his face in Minho’s chest. Luckily, he had also moved down a bit, his head sliding off Minho’s arm, that Minho now realized had lost all feeling.

Changbin’s eyelashes fluttered for a moment, though he didn’t open his eyes. He rubbed his face against Minho’s chest for a moment and Minho held his breath, thinking Changbin woke up. Instead, Changbin let out a content sigh and continued to sleep.

Minho carefully lifted himself up and stepped over Changbin off the couch, trying not to disturb the other. Changbin however slept like a log and didn’t move.

As Minho walked to the kitchen to feed the cats, he thought about checking his phone but decided against it. He spared Changbin a quick glance to see him still sleeping before he made his way to the bathroom to take a shower.

-

He fucked up. Changbin knew it as soon as he woke up. Actually, the first thought he had was,  _ I hope I didn’t drool on Minho’s expensive looking huge couch _ . But his second thought was,  _ I fucked up.  _ He woke up to the sound of Minho’s shower and it took him a moment to remember him cuddling up to Minho in the dead of night. Changbin buried his face in his hands in embarrassment. How on earth was he supposed to look Minho in the eyes? He practically forced himself on him! Was this an assault? What if Minho told Jisung and Chan?

“Coffee?”

Minho’s voice pulled Changbin out of his curled up-face in hands-position on the couch to find a comfortably dressed Minho with two coffee mugs standing in front of him. 

“I didn’t know how you like it so I made it black but I have milk in the fridge.”

Changbin sat up and tried not to let his anxiety show on his face. “Yes… please. Thank you.”

Minho handed him the coffee and sat down next to him checking his phone. “Chan was on a date last night?”

The smell of coffee and Minho’s easy conversation made Changbin wake up more. If Minho wanted to pretend nothing happened, Changbin was absolutely down for that.

He took a sip of coffee and answered Minho, “Him and Felix went to see a movie. Tell me everything Chan said.”

-

Halfway through his morning shower, Minho had decided to just play it cool. If he acted like nothing happened, it would be fine, right? Changbin would probably be embarrassed if he brought it up. He didn’t know how he ended up cuddling with Changbin and he honestly, though he wished, did not intend to do that. And he didn’t even know how to bring it up anyway.

As he walked by the living room, he saw that Changbin had curled up into a ball on the couch, which probably meant he was awake. He made some coffee and offered it to Changbin, who had a conflicted expression on his face but accepted the coffee gratefully.

He checked his phone for the first time since the book reading and saw that he had thirteen messages from Jisung and a whopping fifty six from Chan, who almost never texted.

While skimming through the messages, he picked out important parts and relayed them to Changbin.

“So the movie was great apparently but it was awkward at first…” He trailed off reading through the next batch of messages riddled with spelling errors, a clear sign that Chan typed as fast as he humanly could to convey information. “They held hands through the movie but then it was awkward again when they left.”

He glanced up at Changbin with bedhead and holding the coffee mug close to his attentive face. He felt a squeeze in his chest and quickly looked back down to the phone.

“They went out to get food afterwards… oh, they went to Leonardo’s. I guess we just missed each other.” He looked up again and found Changbin staring into the coffee mug, the tips of his ears turning just as red as his own had to be. Though Minho didn’t blush easily, his ears always gave him away. Minho cleared his throat and busied himself with his phone again. “In the end they went to Jisung’s place…” Okay, maybe this was not a good idea. Why did Chan and Felix’ obvious date night have pretty much the same itinerary as Minho and Changbin’s obvious friendly hangout?

“And then?” Changbin’s voice prompted Minho to focus back on Chan’s texts. “They went to Jisung’s place and...cuddled. Felix stayed over.” 

The silence seemed deafening to Minho. He didn’t want to look at Changbin and was frantically raking his mind for something to turn this awkward lull into an easy conversation but came up with nothing.

“Oh… well, that’s good then. No?” Changbin downed the rest of his coffee and smiled at Minho. “Imagine if he had texted you  _ Oh god no, I killed Felix, help me hide the body! _ That would be awkward us sitting here then…” He let out a quiet laugh and Minho felt himself relax.

“Yeah. That would be awkward.” He smiled back at Changbin and got up to put their empty mugs into the dishwasher. Changbin joined him in the kitchen a moment later, awkwardly hovering.

“So… I’m gonna, you know. I’m gonna head home, take a shower. All that stuff.” He gestured vaguely into the direction of the front door. Minho almost dropped one of the mugs as the mental image of Changbin taking a shower flashed through his mind.

“Uh? Yeah, sure, of course.” He tried his best to look unaffected, like any normal human being, and followed Changbin to the door.

“Bye, kitties!”, Changbin yelled in the general direction of the rest of the apartment as he put on his shoes.

“They have names, you know.” Minho chuckled as he opened the door for Changbin.

Changbin grinned at him before he stepped out. “I kinda figured. You should tell me them next time.”

He left with a smile and Minho was still standing at the door a minute after he left, until a loud noise and a cat’s meow spurred him into movement again.

-

Changbin had barely opened the door to his house before Felix jumped onto him. “Bin! You’re finally home!”

Changbin snorted as Felix let go of him to let him properly enter his house. “How long have you been here?”

Felix shrugged as he pulled Changbin into the living room and sat him down on the couch. “Got here a couple minutes ago.” He paused. “Wait. Where were you this early on a Sunday morning dressed like that?” Changbin could see the exact moment Felix put two and two together. “Oh, you stayed at Minho’s? Did you guys go out and party?”

Changbin shook his head and let out a sigh. “No, I just crashed at his place. We went out to eat after the book reading.”

Felix didn’t think anything of it and immediately launched into a retelling of yesterday’s events. What Chan had apparently not mentioned was a kiss that occurred sometime before the cuddling took place. Which Felix described in great detail. 

“And then, when I woke up, we made pancakes together and then I came here.” Felix finished and beamed at Changbin. “Why are you not reacting?”

Changbin chuckled. “Heard about it from Minho. Chan texted him.”

Felix’ face fell. “Did he say anything about me? What did he say exactly? Did he say good things?”

Changbin sighed and got up to take a shower. “Felix, you are a grown man. Text him yourself. Now if you will excuse me, I’m gonna take a shower.”

While showering, Changbin heard the front door open and close and he let out a long sigh. He was happy for Felix, of course. And he was glad Minho didn’t act super weird around him, for the most part. But more than that, he just felt confused. Confused about the situation in the bookshop yesterday, confused about the invitation to join Minho at his place, confused about this morning.

He decided to file that all away for later and left the shower. Finally dressed in more comfortable clothes, he took a look at his porch. There was some wood set aside that he had ordered because for some reason he had gotten it into his mind to build his own porch furniture and was actually glad to see it sitting there now. Perfect, something to take his mind off of things for a while.

-

Minho spent the rest of his Sunday lounging around the house, desperately trying to find something to occupy himself with. He started to read three different books and immediately dropped them when he couldn’t focus because he was thinking of a certain someone taking a shower - naked. He annoyed his cats for a while until they got tired of him and left him to play with some of Minho’s clothes and by afternoon he was just sitting on his terrace staring off into space.

This was ridiculous. He was an adult. He paid taxes, god dammit. How hard could it be to get over a stupid crush? Just thinking of that word made him vomit on the inside. Crushes were for teenagers, not a guy like him, nearing 30.

He eventually gave up and called Chan and Jisung over to hear the details of what went down with Felix last night, complete with a Jisung reaction highlight reel. They talked for a while and he found Changbin slipping from his mind finally, feeling himself relax.

“So, yeah. That’s what happened. Anyway, how was the book reading?” Chan and Jisung’s eyes turned to Minho, who cursed himself for not keeping their topic going on for longer.

“It was fine.” He stopped but it became clear that Chan and Jisung were waiting on him to elaborate. “It was a book reading, what do you want me to say? The writer was wasted, the book was boring, the housewives loved it.”

“How did Changbin like it?”, Jisung asked the question innocently, but Minho really wanted to hit his head. 

“He liked it, I guess? I don’t know, we got pizza after.”

Chan let out a hum and stroked an invisible beard. “You’re being evasive. Why are you being evasive?”

“Yeah, why are you being evasive?” Jisung shoved an accusatory finger towards Minho, that Chan immediately pushed down. “Too much?”

Chan nodded at him. When he turned his head back to Minho, he raised an eyebrow. “So, how was it?”

Minho shrugged his shoulders. “It was fine, we had pizza, then we watched a movie.”

Jisung and Chan raised their eyebrows and exchanged a weird look.

“Don’t make this into anything it isn’t. We just hung out. It was  _ fine. _ ”

Chan put up his hands to surrender. “Alright, if you say so.”

There was a long pause before Jisung broke the silence. “So, wait. Is there something going on between you two? Or was it just, like, friendly?”

Minho rolled his eyes at him. “I just said. We are friends, we hung out.”

Jisung and Chan dropped the topic and Minho was grateful the interrogation ended there. Chan quickly started a new conversation complimenting various traits of Felix and Minho was glad to not be the center of attention anymore.

-

Changbin was starting to feel like the world just did not want to have him a nice Monday ever. He overslept and barely made it on time for his first class, forgot his lunch at home, and received the dreaded message shortly after 10am. 

_ Changbin, we will be visiting you the coming weekend! Felix was so nice to send us your new address - don’t worry, we rented a hotel room closeby. We were wondering if we should bring our neighbor’s daughter as well, you know, the Kim’s. She is close to your age and still single as well! Let us know. Love, Mom and Dad _

As soon as Felix, Chan and Jisung sat down on the lunch table with him, he boxed Felix’ arm.

“You told my parents my address?”, Changbin growled and Felix rubbed his arm, looking at him with puppy eyes.

“They asked! What was I supposed to say?”

Jisung looked between them and held up a hand. “Pause. Why is this a problem?”

Changbin sighed as Felix distributed a round of lunch boxes he made with the students to them. Maybe not bringing lunch was actually not a big deal if you’re working with Felix. 

“My Mom and Dad, though they are lovely, keep wanting to set me up with people because I’m getting  _ ‘too old to be single’ _ .”, Changbin explained, making air quotes to better accentuate how stupid he found it.

Jisung snorted and dug into his lunch box. “That’s dumb. I’m single too! Ol’ Jisungie just has a lot of love to give!”

Chan shoved Jisung playfully and rolled his eyes. “Ignore him. I assume you talked to them about it?”

Changbin nodded and started eating his lunch box as well, pausing between bites. “I have, but they keep trying. Last time, back home, they set up a surprise blind date with my Dad’s coworker’s son. It did not go well.”

“Then why don’t you tell them you’re already dating someone?”, Jisung mumbled through a mouthful of food. “You know, like those pretend relationships. Just get an escort for the day or something.”

Chan wrinkled his nose at Jisung and Felix laughed, while nudging Changbin in the side. “The idea is maybe not that bad. I mean, telling them you’re dating someone. Not the pretend-relationship-escort-situation.”

Changbin sighed for what felt like the fiftieth time since the conversation started. “Worth a try, I guess. What if they want to meet my better half though?”

Jisung pointed at himself. “I’ll jump in as your loving boyfriend.”

Felix laughed even harder at that. “No offense, but I don’t think there’s....chemistry here.”

Changbin couldn’t agree more. He liked Jisung, he was a friendly, funny guy. But no one would ever believe that they were boyfriends. “No offense, but you’re all a no from my side.”

The rest of the lunch break was a chaotic mess of Chan, Jisung and Felix trying to decide who would be the most believable to portray Changbin’s romantic partner in a drama, which ended with the most logical answer to Changbin - none of them.

-

As the beginning of the school year madness died down in the bookshop, Minho found himself busy restocking shelves and generally just hanging around the shop doing what he liked best, nothing.

Every now and then Chan, Felix or both would stop by, mostly it was just the elderly population of the town that visited. He still got groups of students here and there, mostly whenever Changbin gave them a new paper to write, but he drowned them out after a while. There’s only so much gushing about your friends that you can hear from a bunch of teenagers.

On one notable occasion, he overheard a girl asking her friends if flirting with a teacher was  _ “like, actually illegal or just morally not good” _ and he firmly willed his ears to stop listening as soon as Changbin’s name dropped.

He hadn’t actually talked to or seen Changbin since last Saturday and though he wanted to, he wasn’t sure how to approach him, so he settled on not texting him at all.

Minho was locking up the shop on Friday evening when someone tipped his shoulder from behind, making him jump. When he turned around to find Changbin standing there with a sheepish grin, he gave him an annoyed look.

“I almost had a heart attack.”

Changbin grinned. “Sorry, didn’t want to scare you. Are you hungry by any chance?”

Minho could eat and since Changbin came all the way to the shop, it would be rude to decline. “Sure. Where do you want to go?”

They decided to go to Patty's for a bite and Changbin confessed that he might be addicted after eating the burger there the first time. Once they had eaten, Changbin seemed to fidget around, ripping a napkin to shreds while talking about some tv show he had watched recently.

“What’s up?” Minho questioned and Changbin stilled his hands, looking up at him. “What did that napkin ever do to you?”

Changbin looked back down at the torn apart pieces and pouted. “I have a favor to ask.”

Minho crossed his arms in front of his chest and fixed Changbin with an interested gaze. “Go on.”

“Can you please pretend to be in a relationship with me for two hours tomorrow?”

Minho almost choked on his spit as Changbin, still with a pout, threw him a hopeful look. “Excuse me, what?”

“My parents are coming to visit and I may have told them I’m in a relationship so they would stop looking for a potential partner for me and now they want to go for brunch with me and my boyfriend and I don’t actually have one and it would only be for two hours and you’re my only hope, please say yes.”

Changbin had rattled off his explanation so quickly, Minho felt like his brain needed a second to catch up. “Have you ever thought of becoming a rapper?”

With an exasperated huff, Changbin threw one of the napkin shreds at Minho, which slowly sauntered pathetically back down to the table. “I’m serious. Please. I can pay you if you want.”

Minho chuckled. “Now, hold on a minute. I’m not a hooker.”

Changbin put his hands up with a shocked expression. “Oh my god, of course not. That’s not-”

“I’ll do it.”, Minho interrupted. Changbin’s eyes widened even more. “I’ll help you out. But you’re paying for my brunch.”

Changbin’s face split into a huge grin. “Yes! Of course, totally! Thank you, you’re the best!”

There was a voice in the back of Minho’s head yelling at him for being an idiot and this being the absolute worst idea in the universe, but Minho looked at Changbin’s bright smile and thought to himself,  _ I did that. He’s smiling because of me right now. _ And the voice got quieter and quieter, until it was merely a whisper.

-

Felix had always told him that Changbin wasn’t the smartest when it came to decisions. He made a lot of them impulsively and a lot of them backfired. Like the terrible haircut he got five years ago that Changbin made Felix promise to not ever mention again.

This might top the haircut though. Halfway through the week, his parents had badgered him again about bringing the Kim daughter along with them and he eventually gave in and told them that he was seeing someone. They were of course happy for him and naturally, they wanted to meet Changbin together with his made up boyfriend on Saturday.

Changbin had tried to come up with numerous excuses, but his parents found a way for all of them to not be an obstacle, which is why Minho was quite literally his only hope on Friday.

He had wrestled with himself and tried to put it off for as long as he could, but eventually asked Minho. He honestly had not expected Minho to give in so easily but just assumed that Minho was happy to be doing his friend a favor, in exchange for a free breakfast buffet and champagne.

After the dinner, they had spent some time working out details - where they met, how they met, and so on. A perfect alibi. Weirdly, it felt like he was planning a con, a heist of sorts, and it was nice to have a partner in crime.

What he was absolutely not prepared for, was Minho showing up on his doorstep on Saturday morning, dressed to the nines with a small bouquet of flowers in hand.

Changbin opened the door shirtless, still drying his hair and Minho let out an appreciative whistle as he entered Changbin’s house. 

“Sorry, I’m not ready yet. Give me five minutes.”, he muttered, stumbling back to the bathroom. Fuck, he had not calculated this well. Minho looked, well,  _ good _ . Really good. And what the hell was that whistle for? He tried to drown out his thoughts with the hairdryer.

About ten minutes later he found Minho looking through his half empty bookshelf, flowers left behind on the coffee table.

“Okay, I’m ready. What are those flowers for?”

Minho turned to look at him and didn’t even try to hide the stare he gave him, looking him up and down. “For your Mom. Gotta make a good first impression with the in-laws.” He winked at Changbin and Changbin swore he almost let out a gasp.

Who was this person and what did he do to Minho?

-

Minho was going to play his part well. He would do this for Changbin, so his parents would get off his back. A friend helping out a friend. Or so he rationalized this whole situation for himself. 

Seeing a shirtless Changbin open the door for him though? Not really what he was expecting. He was grateful for Changbin’s loud hairdryer as it overpowered his frustrated groan. A friend helping out a friend. Friends.

When Changbin and Minho left Changbin’s house, they made their way down to the small cafe near the park. 

Changbin’s hand bumped against Minho’s on accident, but Minho took it as a sign. He grabbed Changbin’s hand and interlaced their fingers, Changbin letting out a surprised yelp.

“Boyfriend hours start now,  _ honey _ .”, Minho grinned and Changbin gave him a wide eyed stare before they entered the cafe.

“Changbinnieeeee!” Changbin’s Mom immediately rushed over to them as soon as they walked through the door, arms outstretched pulling them both into a hug that was remarkably tight for such a small woman. Minho guessed it just runs in the family.

The cafe was half empty and they quickly made their way to the table in the back, where Changbin’s Dad had gotten up from his seat to pull his son into a hug. Afterwards, he fixed his gaze on Minho.

“And you are-”

“The boyfriend.”, Changbin quickly finished the sentence for his Dad. “That’s Minho. Minho, my Mom and Dad.”

Minho and Changbin’s Dad shook hands before they all sat down to order their brunch menus.

“It’s so nice to see my son finally found someone, Minho. We were really worried because, you know, he can be a bit-”

“Mom!”

Changbin’s Mom stopped and gave them a happy smile. “Ah, well anyway. It’s nice to meet you, Minho.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Seo. And Mr. Seo, of course.” He quickly handed Changbin’s Mom the flowers he brought. “These are, uh, for you.”

Changbin fidgeted nervously next to Minho and he pushed his leg against his under the table. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Changbin looking at him, though it seemed to calm him down.

They continued the brunch with comfortable conversation, Changbin’s parents catching him up on the family gossip and Minho and Changbin presenting their perfect origin story.

“And you own a bookshop, Minho?” Changbin’s dad seemed interested and Minho nodded. “That’s good. Maybe you’ll finally get our son back into writing again.”

Changbin winced as his Dad rolled his eyes at him. 

Minho put a hand on Changbin’s thigh and tried to ignore the rush of blood to his head. “Mr. Seo, your son is a fantastic writer. But I’m fully content watching him be a passionate teacher as well, he’s inspiring a lot of students around town.”

Changbin’s dad raised his eyebrows at that and smiled at Changbin. “Good to hear.”

-

Changbin was having a hard time thinking. He could feel the warmth of Minho’s leg pressed against his, Minho’s hand on his thigh and he thought we might just throw up on the spot. But that would probably be very frowned upon.

The brunch ended shortly after and they waved Changbin’s Mom and Dad off as they got into their card, Minho still holding Changbin’s hand.

“Thank you.”, Changbin said in a small voice, once his parents’ car had left the parking lot.

Minho squeezed Changbin’s hand before letting it go. “That’s… what friends are for, right?” He grinned at Changbin and rubbed his stomach. “Plus the brunch was delicious.”

Changbin tried to push the friend comment as far away from his mind as humanly possible and laughed. “You’re gonna get fat if they keep visiting.” The words were out of his mouth before he could think about what he said.

Minho narrowed his eyes at him. “Oh, so this is a regular thing, then?” 

Changbin quickly spoke up. “No, not at all! That was just a joke!”

Minho winked at him, “Call me anytime you need my help,  _ sweetheart. _ ”

Changbin threw a weak punch at Minho’s arm as Minho cackled as if he wanted to start working at a Haunted House. 

“Minho! Changbin!” They turned to see Felix sprinting towards them, arms waving wildly. “Wow, what are you guys doing here?”

Changbin had about five seconds to come up with an excuse, but his brain produced nothing. As Felix stopped in front of them, he blurted out, “My parents were here.”

Felix looked confused for a moment. “But Minho…” He paused, then realized. “Oh, so you’re the boyfriend!”

Minho snorted and Changbin let out a cough. Felix could not be stopped once he got going though. “How was it? What did they say?”

Minho gestured for Changbin to answer. Reluctantly he grumbled out, “They love him.” as Minho put on a disgustingly proud smile.

Felix gave Minho a thumbs up, while Changbin wanted the ground below him to open up and just swallow him whole.

As it turned out, Felix was on his way to meet up for a picnic with Chan, which left Minho and Changbin alone in the parking lot once again.

“So um, thanks again.” Changbin felt awkward now, with the two of them just standing there. “I guess I’ll let you get back to whatever you wanted to do on this fine Saturday.”

“I didn’t have anything planned.” Minho was staring at him again.

Changbin plucked up the little bit of courage blooming in his chest. “Have you ever built porch furniture?”

-

As Changbin showed Minho some outdoor furniture pieces in various stages of completion, Minho hummed thoughtfully.

“You didn’t really think this through, did you?”

Changbin shook his head. “It looked easy on the internet!”

“It always does.”

Changbin went back into the kitchen to make some coffee for both of them to wake them up from their oncoming post brunch food coma as Minho looked through some articles online on how to build furniture.

Once they had discussed the best way to proceed with Changbin’s projects and finished their coffee, Minho looked down at himself, then at Changbin. “I don’t think we’re wearing the right clothes for this kind of work.”

Changbin slapped the palm of his hand to his forehead. “Of course. Come with me, I think I have some clothes that fit you.”

-

As soon as Changbin had handed Minho some clothes he found that would fit him, Minho immediately stripped down to his underwear and Changbin reacted a moment too late to what was happening.

Minho apparently had zero problem getting naked in front of him unprompted but the sight of Minho’s body without clothes caused several problems for Changbin. The most obvious one was his rapidly heating face. 

If Minho realized Changbin was blushing - which he most definitely did - he didn’t say anything. After changing, he left Changbin’s bedroom without a word and went back out to the porch.

Changbin took a moment to breathe before changing his clothes as well. He felt like a Victorian era man seeing his wife’s ankles for the first time. He had seen people naked before, what the hell was wrong with him?

“What the fuck”, Changbin said to an empty room, willing the sight of Minho’s thigh muscles out of his brain and walking out to join Minho outside.

-

They spent the afternoon finishing a sitting area and half the table before they called it a day. Thanks to Minho’s Google skills and Changbin narrowly avoiding nailing his foot to a plank of wood, they made through, sweaty but without injuries.

Minho let himself fall down into one of the chairs they finished and wiped the sweat from his forehead as Changbin handed him some lemonade he got from the fridge.

“Good job. I almost thought you were a goner when you dropped the hammer earlier.”

Changbin shoved him lightly. “As if. I did better than you and you know it.”

Minho shrugged and closed his eyes against the sunset shining on his face. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

And there it was. The Topic That Must Not Be Brought Up. Changbin clenched his teeth and risked a look at Minho who was now staring into the lemonade as if it held the secrets of the universe.

“You know, about that-” Changbin trailed off, not sure where he was going with his sentence. “I’m sorry.”

Minho turned to look at him. “Sorry?”

Changbin huffed. “You know. The whole- that night-” He paused. “Cuddling.”

Minho let out a laugh that startled Changbin. This was not exactly the reaction he was expecting.

“So it was you! I was wondering which one of us started it…”

Changbin scratched the back of his neck, a little bit more relaxed now that Minho didn’t seem to be angry at him. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”

Minho waved him off and drank his lemonade. 

The topic was dropped and they chatted for a while longer, until it got too dark outside and they decided to head into the living room. 

“Uhm, would you mind if I showered here? I’m kinda sweaty.”, Minho asked, gesturing down at himself and Changbin’s eyes made the unpermitted mistake of following Minho’s hands.

“No, go ahead. First door on the right.”

Minho nodded and stopped in the doorway for a moment. “I didn’t mind, you know.”

Before Changbin could ask what exactly Minho was referring to, he had disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

-

Minho had come to a realization. Yes, he was undoubtedly, absolutely and disgustingly head over heels for Changbin. He found his little quirks cute, he found his body hot, he found his laugh infectious. He hated it. And he needed it. He needed to see Changbin, to hear him talk and smile and he needed to be close to him. 

So, Minho was going to give it his best shot against his better judgement. Of course, he needed to be careful. If he was too forward, Changbin might get creeped out or start to hate him, or or or.

As Minho stepped out of the shower, he realized he had left his clothes in Changbin’s bedroom and slung a towel around his waist with a sigh. When he opened the bathroom door, he bumped into Changbin, chest to chest, and Changbin’s eyes widened in shock.

“Oh fuck, sorry. I just wanted to knock, you forgot your uh-” Changbin looked down at the towel. “...clothes.” He held the bundle of clothes out at Minho.

Minho grabbed them and drew in a short breath. “I was thinking…We never finished the movie. I mean, we fell asleep. So…” He didn’t really know how to finish that sentence.

Changbin cleared his throat. “Yeah, let’s, let’s finish that. I will, uh get you something more comfortable to wear then.” He practically ripped the clothes from Minho’s hand and went to his bedroom. After a minute of rummaging, he stretched out some sweatpants and a t-shirt to him.

“Thanks.”, Minho answered and closed the bathroom door again. Okay, so maybe he needed another minute.

-

When Minho finally stepped out of the bathroom, Changbin quickly excused himself to take a shower as well. His head was spinning and for a moment he really hoped that it would be heatstroke and not the alternative.

Because the alternative was Changbin having actual feelings for Minho and that seemed much scarier than the possibility of death due to being in the sun too long. Something about Minho just made him feel like a teenager again, dumb and awkward. He had had relationships before but they didn’t make him feel like this. Like his skin was too hot and he had a constant lump in his throat. Oh good, maybe it was actually option C and he just had tonsillitis.

A while later, he found Minho stretched out on his couch looking through the Netflix catalogue to find the movie they had watched. Changbin’s breath hitched for a moment, seeing Minho in his clothes, comfortable, his stomach exposed where the shirt had ridden up.

“I found it! I’m not sure when we stopped watching though”, Minho announced and that somehow brought Changbin back to earth. He settled down next to Minho, who rested his head on Changbin’s thigh, mirroring the position Changbin had been in that evening. “I’ll just play it from the beginning if that’s okay?”

Changbin hummed, not sure what noise would come out of his mouth if he opened it. Somehow the atmosphere between them had shifted from the lighthearted banter earlier today to something heavier, buzzing between them.

For a while, Changbin tried really hard to focus on the movie, until Minho started rubbing small circles into his thigh with one of his hands. Changbin looked down to find Minho looking up at him with narrowed eyes.

“I wanna lie down.”

That made Changbin chuckle. “You are lying down.”

“With you.”

Changbin’s laughter died in his throat. Before he could say anything, Minho pushed him over gently to lie down behind him, a pillow propping his head up to rest his chin in the crook of Changbin’s neck.

There was a moment of silence and then Changbin felt Minho’s breath ghost over his shoulder as he whispered, “Is that okay?”

Changbin was frozen. His tongue refused to work, his mind was blank.  _ Fuck it _ , he thought.  _ Two can play that game. _

He grabbed Minho’s hand behind him and dragged it across his waist to rest loosely at his stomach. For a second he thought he felt goosebumps on Minho’s arm, but wasn’t sure if he was just hallucinating. Minho let out a breath, tickling his shoulder again and relaxed behind him.

At this point Changbin realized he was never going to watch this movie.

-

Minho’s heart was beating a mile a minute. He was convinced that Changbin had to hear it, feel it even, where his back pressed against Minho’s chest, but Changbin just lay there, silent and still holding on to Minho’s hand around him.

Minho was racking his brain to figure out what exactly had happened between yesterday and today and how they ended up here, cuddling again, but this time fully conscious. He couldn’t come up with anything.

Changbin’s body was warm against his, his shoulder slightly exposed, as the fabric of the t-shirt had moved from the change in position. Minho closed his eyes just for a moment, before they snapped open by the sensation of his lips on Changbin’s skin. His head had moved as he dozed off and the sudden skin contact immediately woke him up.

He heard a small sigh come from Changbin but he made no move until Minho moved his lips slightly over Changbin’s skin. This was it. No going back now.

He pressed a light kiss to Changbin’s shoulder and felt Changbin tense up in front of him. Minho was just about to apologize as Changbin turned around and touched his cheek with a gentle hand.

They stayed like that, looking at each other in the dim light of the tv for a few minutes, the only noise coming from the movie playing. 

-

Changbin couldn’t help but stare, Minho’s face illuminated by the tv, he looked gorgeous. Minho’s eyes darted down to Changbin’s lips for a few endlessly long seconds, before going back up to Changbin’s eyes. Changbin dragged his hand slowly down Minho’s cheek until his thumb touched his lips. He wanted to ask,  _ what is this? What are we doing? Is this okay? Do you want me? _

He couldn’t say a single word. 

Minho looked back down to Changbin’s lips and in a split second, he felt Minho’s push against them, gently but firmly. Changbin responded to the kiss immediately, a hand tangling in Minho’s hair, dragging him closer into another heated kiss, their lips only parting for Minho to let out a soft gasp. Minho deepened the kiss, pushing his tongue inside Changbin’s mouth and Changbin’s brain short circuited. He felt himself relax against Minho, their bodies pushed together, and he let out a low whine as Minho kissed him again. 

It was only a few minutes, but it felt like hours to Changbin, before Minho finally pulled away, keeping their face so close, their noses touched.

“Wanted to do that. For a while now.”

Changbin licked his lip and thought his heart might explode. His response came out as a whisper, “Me too.”

“I… like you, Changbin.”, Minho whispered back, wincing at how the words came out sounding like a shy teenager, not a confident young man.

Changbin stared at Minho for a moment, unable to find his words.

“Sorry, that was too much.”, Minho breathed out.

Changbin breathed out a sigh and pulled Minho close again for another kiss.

When they broke apart, Changbin smiled at Minho, the hand on the back of Minho’s head, softly brushing through his hair.

“I like too much.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know how you liked it pls i'm desperate for social interaction in these trying times
> 
> feel free to hit me up on instagram (childish.changbino)
> 
> And have a nice day everyone! Keep it fresh! :)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm almost done with this so second part should be up tomorrow if anyone wants it lmao


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